A Lesson from Boy Scouts

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come." Mark 13:32-33

Twenty-five days until Christmas. Twenty-five days that many people will spend decorating, baking, shopping, planning, partying, caroling, giving, and receiving. And, for those of you who are the forgetful type, you will be reminded by countless commercials and store fliers keeping you updated on the countdown to December 25th. But, it's not Christmas for which we should be preparing.

Today marks the beginning of the season of Advent; the beginning of a new Church year. The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival" and perfectly describes this season of anticipation. We are right in our celebration of Christ's birth in His first coming, but what many people inadvertently forget this time of year is that the Church is doing a lot more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. We are awaiting in anticipation for His second coming and return as Christ the King. You could say that this season focuses on both the past and the future; Christ has come, He is present in the world today, and He will come again in power.

Today's Gospel reading reminds us of His second coming. Like the Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared," we too must be prepared for Christ's return because we "do not know when that time will come." Although we look forward to and anticipate the Messiah who will bring peace and justice to the world, we must also remember that part of that return will include a judgement on sin and accountability before God.

So as you begin your holiday preparations this year, reflect on a season that means more than just the Christ child in a manager. Ready your hearts for His return. "Be Prepared!" You do not know when that time will come.

Mamoul

One of the things I enjoy most about living in our new state is the opportunity to experience a different ethnic menagerie of personalities and cultures. When we first moved here, we emailed our friends and family about the many locally owned Italian restaurants. In addition to the large Italian population, there is also a large Polish population as well. We enjoy taking every opportunity to meet new people and experience new culturally unique customs and today proved to be one of those opportunites.

A newly hired coworker brought cookies into the office today that his wife had made. Now, eating sweets in the office around the holidays is not unusual; however, the cookies he brought were a new experience for me. My coworker's wife is Lebanese and she made some Lebanese filled cookies known as "Mamoul." Mamoul are Middle Eastern cookies typically prepared for special holidays such as Easter or Christmas. They are made with semolina flour, scented with rose or orange flower water and are filled with walnuts, pistachios, or dates. Each cookie is formed in a specifically designed wooden mold and the mold design used indicates what filling is inside the cookie. They are very dense and taste like a mildly sweet cross between marzipan and shortbread.

I love baking so I scoured the Internet for more information on Mamoul and found a few promising recipes (click here for a recipe). I'm not sure when I will get a chance to make them myself, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to have tried this new culinary treat!

~Sarah E. Rose~

Thanksgiving: Realizing Plenty

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

Thanksgiving is not, in itself, a religious holiday but it does give us time to pause and reflect on our blessings and give thanks to God. As humans, we tend to focus on what we don’t have, what we want rather than need, and what our lives would be like if things in general were different.

The definition of thanksgiving – the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God – is often lost in the rush of this American holiday. Between setting the table, roasting the turkey, mashing the potatoes, and baking the sweets, we seemed to have lost the grateful heart this holiday once embodied.

While visiting with family and friends today, take the time to give thanks to God for your many blessings. Be thankful for all that you have and even for what you don't have. Realize what is plenty and give thanks to God with a grateful heart.

Youth Group at GIFT

Today the youth group at Our Lady of Mercy participated in the GIFT program after the 9:30am Mass. Generations in Faith Together (GIFT) is an excellent program for all ages designed to clarify the tenants of our Catholic faith. Today we learned about different aspects of the church, from the alter to the baptismal font. We even had a hands on experiment in making bread while learning about all the "ingredients" that go into our Sunday Mass.

8.6lbs of Terror Strikes Again!

A week ago, we posted an entry concerning our dog, Baden (Bot-Bot)– or as we referred to him in the post, our 8.6lbs of Terror! For those of you who remain unconvinced of Baden’s total destructive capacity, keep reading.

I came home late this evening after visiting with a friend only to discover that our sweet Bot-Bot had struck again. We have a comfortable, but outdated, loveseat in our living room with one of those Sure-Fit slip covers on it. One of the things they recommend doing to keep the slipcover tucked in neatly is to stuff swimming pool foam noodles down into the creases. Apparently in his boredom, Baden dug up the foam noodle and decided it must be quickly eradicated, killed, annihilated, and exterminated. All that remained when I returned home is the orange foam shrapnel you see below…

~Sarah E. Rose~

Throwing in the Towel!

At the beginning of the month, we accepted the NaBloPoMo challenge to commit to at least one posting a day on our blog for the whole month of November. And, try as I might to post daily, I just can't seem to do it. What I did do, though, was use my legal experience to find a loophole in the blog system— you can assign any date to your posting when you post it, so I have been retroactively posting my entries as I had time. What I didn't take into account was that there were some devoted readers out there who were visiting on a daily basis, my brother Matthew being one of them.

I haven't talked to Matthew for quite a while now, and leave it to two 20-something siblings (okay, so I'm 30 now) to have that overdue conversation in the form of text messaging. Yesterday I sent him a text inquiring if he had been keeping up with the blog, which he had. He then asked, "What's with the daily post thing?" I admitted to him that I was averaging one post per day, just not posting them on a daily basis. He replied, "Yeah I noticed that when there weren't any posts and then all of a sudden four in a row!!" My secret was out. For a brief moment I felt like a failure, that is until he texted me again and said, "Well, you don't see me trying to do it!" And, with that comment, I knew he was complimenting me.

Creating the blog has been a huge undertaking, but even without our readers, "Called to Connecticut" has become an important therapeutic project for us. I tried to keep up with a daily post, but my schedule just didn't permit it so we will go back to our regular sporadic postings. To our die hard readers: Don't worry! Check the blog often; we usually post something at least a couple of times a week.

So yeah, we're throwing in the towel on the NaBloPoMo challenge. Talk about a HUGE relief!!! Thanks Matthew!

~Sarah E. Rose~

Thematic Photographic

Carmi, at his blog Written, Inc., has posted a new subject for his regular weekly thematic photographic project. This week’s project is “rows" and ever since this subject was revealed, I've been anxious to take my weekly photos.

I missed so many wonderful opportunities this week to take pictures of "rows" in my daily life because I've been forgetting to carry my camera with me. Friday night was especially perfect— I left work rather late and a light rain was falling. I saw a perfect photo opportunity in the row of security lights hovering over the empty parking lot in the misty rain. Perfect, perfect, perfect!!! But I didn't have my camera and my camera phone just wouldn't have measured up to my standards. Lesson learned!

It wasn't until just now when I was sulking over my loss at participating in this week's project that I realized I have a perfect example of rows in my own apartment— our radiator! So here's my entry this week. Enjoy!

~Sarah E. Rose~

Peanut Butter Temptations

Today was the annual Christmas Boutique at our parish, Our Lady of Mercy in Plainville, Connecticut. I am a member of the Ladies Guild and was asked to bake something for the bake sale. Immediately I thought of my favorite fall classic, Peanut Butter Temptations, and decided to share the recipe here.

Peanut Butter Temptations
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
48 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together the brown sugar, white sugar and butter. Stir in the peanut butter, then the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the peanut butter mixture until the dough comes together. Shape into 1 inch balls (I use my small Pampered Chef scoop) and drop them into the cups of an ungreased mini muffin pan.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press a mini chocolate covered peanut butter cup down into the center of each cookie until only the top is showing. Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing from their pans.

~Sarah E. Rose~

I heart him... *sigh*

I love my husband. I love everything about him, even when he drives me crazy. I've always been a gal who's a sucker for a man in uniform so I must admit that it is an added bonus that Justin has always had a job that required him to wear one. Here he is in his Schwan's uniform. Isn't he just adorable? I heart him... *sigh*

~Sarah E. Rose~

Thursday's Thought

What if we were "Called to Connecticut" not because Connecticut needed us, but because we needed Connecticut?

Wordless Wednesdays

In Remembrance of Those Who Served

Thematic Photographic

Carmi, at his blog Written, Inc., has posted a new subject for his regular weekly thematic photographic project. This week’s project is “autumn" but I must say that it's a little late for those of us in New England.

Our first northeastern fall was absolutely breathtaking. For weeks, every trip outside was full of new and vibrant colors. First came the orange, then the reds, and finally the yellow. Unfortunately, autumn doesn't last forever up here and many of the trees only have a few stubborn leaves left, hanging on to the last of 2008.

Nonetheless, I took out my camera today on my day off and took a few pictures of what little autumn remains here in Bristol Connecticut. Some leaves on the ground, the last yellow of the area foliage, and a school bus through the trees are all things that remind me of autumn.

~Sarah E. Rose~

The Adoption Option

Ever since we've been married, the one thing we've wanted most is children. Early on in our marriage we were told by several doctors that conceiving a child of our own would be difficult, if not impossible. However, five years into our marriage and without any medical intervention we found out that we were pregnant with our miracle baby. His days were numbered though, and he spent only a short 41 weeks with us before he left to become one of God's little angels. It's been over two years since his birth and we still remain without any living children. We know that fertility treatments give many couples options now, but our faith and the Catholic Church teaches against the use of many of those methods. That only leaves us with one other option, the adoption option.

We've been thinking a lot more about adoption these days. Growing older, albeit some would argue that we are still relatively young, puts a new perspective on our lives. One of the many reasons we moved to Connecticut was to simplify our lives and get our finances in order, but the thought of adoption and it's price tag of well into the tens of thousands of dollars looks more like a distant dream than a possibility.

One of the recurring themes in our prayer is our prayer for children, but it has always been just that, a prayer for children. We are growing in our spirituality these days so we've learned lately that it's not enough to pray for an answer, but that we have to listen to what that answer is, even if it is not how we wanted it. Of course we want our own children, what couple wouldn't? But eight years into our marriage now we are beginning to wonder if we are even listening to God's answer and praying for His will in this situation. After all, having a whole house full of our biological children would not be a blessing if we didn't follow the path God wanted us to take.

So right now we are sitting still and listening— still learning about all of our options, but doing it with an open mind and an open heart. God knows our wants, but He is also the only One who truly knows our needs. So we'll pray, wait, and listen.

8.6lbs of Terror

Today we took Baden to the vet for his regular toenail-clipping and to refill his heartworm prevention medicine. As we had expected, he hasn't gained any weight and still remains a trim 8.6 pounds.

One of the things we find so amusing about Baden is his complete lack of self-awareness concerning his small size. When we lived on the farm and he chased away small fury creatures and other dogs, he always did so with our 160lb Great Pyrenees Charlie right behind him. We didn't think Charlie would do so well with a move from a 350 acre farm to a 750 square foot apartment, so we left him behind in the care of Justin's mother, Dee. Baden, however, sometimes forgets that he is alone now, and still chases after everything with as much tenacity as he did with Charlie right behind him.

Another Baden amusement is his obsession with stuffed toys, or more precisely, the stuffing contained within the stuffed toys. In our quest to give him good quality toys, we've purchased items with such claims as "chewguard," "for your heavy chewer," "tough toy," and "indestructible;" however, they all fail our little 8.6lb terror test. Baden can completely destroy all those toys and then some within the first five minutes of playtime. Don't believe us? See for yourself:

This was a stuffed dragon toy we purchased at the petstore for $15. We paid a hefty price for this one because it featured "chewguard" technology and was supposed to be "virtually indestructible." Of course, they obviously did not have Baden as part of the test group for this toy (notice the detached head). Did we mention that it was literally the same size as he is?

This was a stuffed monkey dog toy we purchased for him. It did have two legs and two arms. It has been completely de-stuffed and is now missing some extremities.

This was a stuffed lamb dog toy Sarah's mother gave him for Easter (yes, in the absence of grandchildren, the fury grandkid gets doted on). It has no stuffing left and the tip of it's face is missing.

A few more of his disemboweled formerly stuffed toys.